No Strings Attached
by goldfish400
Summary: A post Sock-Opera AU fanfiction where Bill gets his hands on the journal because Dipper couldn't find a vessel in time to get his warning across to Mabel. Grenda is a bit OOC but that doesn't really matter because she only appears once.


"Sorry Pine Tree, but it's mine now!" Bill teased, holding the journal up in the direction where Dipper was floating right above him. He ran off and climbed down the scaffolding, before running backstage and exiting out the back door. Dipper stayed where he was for a moment in complete shock. He couldn't believe it. Bill had won. He stole his body, destroyed the laptop, and now, since he couldn't find a vessel in time, had the journal. He tried to warn Mabel, but she, just like everyone else, hadn't heard or seen him. He was about to charge after him until he heard his sister's voice running in the direction of where he left. "Dipper! The wedding scene is coming up next! You promised you'd help me!" she yelled, running after her brother's body, but before she could get out the door, Grenda stopped her. "Woah, Mabel, where are you going? She asks, and Mabel, in tears, points to where Bill had run off. "Dipper left with the journal! Now we don't have a book prop _or _a reverend to read from it!" she cried, and Grenda peeked out onto the stage and saw the audience getting a little restless from the unannounced pause in the show. Gabe was looking especially annoyed, and he had even gone far enough to remove a puppet from his hand and was tapping at his arm rest. Grenda sighed. "Fine, we'll use the script, and I'll be the reverend. We could dim the lights on the stage so nobody will be able to tell. When that's all over, go look for your brother. I'm sure he just went home". Mabel was unsure. She had abandoned him so many times during the week she'd be sure he'd just be typing away at the keyboard, getting more and more annoyed at the beep the computer made when he guessed an incorrect password, and in his sleep deprived state, he would probably do something he would regret. She did recall him mentioning dreaming about Bill earlier in the week, but he never said he was thinking about striking a deal with him. Dipper knew better than that He had waited a week for her to help him with it, and what's one more hour going to do? It's not like he was going to pass out on the way home and remain unconscious enough for Bill to possess his dream, right? He could manage the laptop on his own before she got home, the worst that can happen would be getting locked out of the computer for the rest of the day for too many failed log in attempts. Grenda dimmed the lights of the stage, opened the curtains, and followed Mabel back onto stage. "

Mabel!" Dipper shouted, but sighed. There was no point. There was no point . He floated as fast as he could through the walls and began to search desperately for his own body. He couldn't have gone far, because he still hadn't given Dipper his body back, not even after he got his hands on the journal. What was up with that? "Bill!" he yelled, looking around desperately. Where could he have gone? Yes, he was in a human body, so he was obviously still in this dimension, but he could go anywhere with the journal. Where would Bill to destroy it? He pondered, and then realized, of course! Bill would probably destroy the laptop, and leave some if its destroyed remains on his bed just to prove that he's won. Now how would be manage to float upwards? He had only figured out how to float down, left, and right, but up had been a mystery to him. Does he have to think about going up? No, that wasn't working, did he have to try and physically do it? He had to think, how did he see Bill do it before? He shook his head. Trying it like Bill wouldn't work, because they were two different people entirely. So he closed his eyes, and pushed himself up. He felt himself moving, but when he opened his eyes, the town looked like little dots. "Woah, too far, too far!" he shouted to nobody in particular, and dropped himself down until he had a clear, bird's eye view of the town. Right when he saw a brighter than usual light flashing from the shack towards the edge of town, he just knew it had to be Bill. He dashed towards the shack, and with his eyes closed, floated through the triangular window that sat just outside of his door. He creeped towards his door, and when he heard the sound of flipping pages, he burst through the door and found Bill sitting on his bed flipping through the journal.

"Well, Well, Well. Someone took their time, didn't they, pine tree?" he said, not even having to llok up from the journal to know he was there. He picked the journal up, and crept towards Dipper. He dropped down onto his knees very hard when he was not even inches away from Dipper. He flinched when he heard a cracking sound. "I'm impressed with you, kid" he says, holding the black light in the other hand. "I didn't think you'd ever be able to find out about the invisible ink" he says, waving it in front of Dipper before walking over to the window, punching it until it shatters, and chucking it out the window. "No!" Dipper yells, but before he can make it out the window to go after it, he hears a smashing sound. Bill laughs, and slowly picks the broken glass out of his knuckles. He sloppily throws it onto the ground, which shatters into even smaller pieces, and he laughs. "Take it easy, kid. You won't be needing that anymore if the journal ceases to exist" He says, and then slowly lifts his hand in the air until it catches fire. Dipper curses under his breath, and charges at Bill. He merely steps to the side, and Dipper finds himself phasing through to the other side of the wall. He phases back into the room, and watches in horror as Bill burns each page in mere seconds. About halfway through the book, he rips a page out instead of burning it. "You know what?" he says, holding up the page about himself. "I think I'll keep this one" He tucked it away into the inside pocket of his vest, and then, without breaking eye contact with Dipper, threw the remains of the journal up in the air and burned it. Dipper watched the ashes land on the floor, and just as he suspected, Bill sprinkled them all over his bed, and then climbed into it and rolled around. Dipper sighed angrily, and then floated closer and closer to Bill until he was inches away from his own face. "You got what you wanted, now give me my body back!" he yells, and Bill laughs. "We made a deal kid, remember? I never said I wanted to borrow a puppet, now did I? I already told you, You're _my _puppet now, and there's nothing you can do about it!" A car honks from outside, and Bill walks over to the window. "Perfect Timing" he mumbles to Dipper, before leaving the room and "running" down the stairs. "Mabel, I'm so glad to see you!" he yelled, making sure Dipper could hear him. Dipper followed after him. "Dipper, where did you go? I thought you said you'd be the reverend for the wedding scene! Grenda had to come in and improvise because you left right before the scene!" she questioned, and Bill blinked. "I'm sorry Mabel, but Bill was in my dream again last night and I needed to check the journal for answers." Mabel squints at this comment, and creeps toward him. "When did you have a chance to sleep? The car ride over to the theater was only 5 minutes" she asked, and Bill nods. "Yes, that's what I meant. I must've passed out in the car on the way to the theater" he responds, and Mabel looks as if she's going to question him, but doesn't say anything about it. "So did you find out anything new about Bill under the black light?" she asks, and he shakes his head. "Nothing important" he smirks, looking up at Dipper. Dipper floats down onto his level. "Well, I'm going for a walk, see you in a few hours!" Bill says, and sloppily heads for the door. Mabel gives her confused farewells and heads up the stairs to her and Dipper's room. Dipper rushes up the stairs first, and looks around desperately for a vessel. He grins when he sees a stuffed tiger lying on her bed, and takes it as a vessel.

Mabel walks into the room seconds later and flops down on her bed. She places the puppet representing herself on the table next to her bed, and places the Gabe one on her pillow. He hated to interrupt people's sleep, especially Mabel's, but he knew this was far more important. "Psst, Mabel" he whispered, dragging himself towards her. "Mabel!" he whispers, louder this time, but still gets no response. "Back from your walk so soon? Why, did you forget your journal or something?" asks tiredly, and turns over on her side. "It's probably on your bed, you were the last to have it" she says, and Dipper groans. "Mabel, wake up!" he says, throwing himself on her. She jumps up, confused, and looks around the room. "Dipper? Where are you?" she says, looking around the room and getting up to open the door. "Dipper?" she asks again, more confused this time. "Mabel, I'm over here" he yells, frantically waving his stuffed arms around in the air. Mabel turns around, and starts giggling when she sees his motions. "Dipper?" she asks, heading over to her bed. "What are you doing in a stuffed animal?" she wonders, and he waves his arms around again. "Mabel, there's no time to explain. Bill stole my body, and now I have no clue where he went" Mabel picked him up, despite his protests and placed him on her lap. "Couldn't you check the journal for something like this?" and Dipper shakes his head. "I can't. It's gone" he responds, whispering in a quieter tone with each word. "Gone? What do you mean?" "Bill destroyed it" he said, and she threw him down. "WHAT?" she yelled, and then looked down on the floor. "Oh right, sorry" she says, and he shrugs. He destroyed the journal, the black light, AND the laptop. It's over Mabel, he's won." Mabel picks him up again. "There must be something we can do! Maybe we should go after him and wait for him to collapse? He'll be kicked from your body then, right?" she asks, and Dipper shrugs. "He drank every soda in the fridge. There's enough caffine in his body to be the equivalent of a full coffee maker. And even if we did find him and get my body back, what would we do then?" Dipper asked, and Mabel pondered for a bit. "Maybe he didn't really destroy it? Maybe he made you believe it was gone when he just hid it away in his pocket" Mabel suggested, and he shrugged. "Alright, then let's go!" Dipper jumped up, not thinking properly and flopping over onto the floor and groaning. "Is there any other vessel I could use that would allow me to move around as I please?" he asks, and as if on cue, Waddles comes into the room and begins sniffing at him. "Oh no" Mabel says, picking up Waddles and catching him by surprise. "Would you rather me use you?" he asks, and she looks down at Waddles. He rolls around on Mabel's sheets, and after a while begins to chew at them. Mabel looks back and forth, and finally squeezes her eyes shut. "Fine, but be quick about it" she says, and as quickly as he can manage, Dipper exits the stuffed animal's body and transfers himself into Waddle's, despite his groans and oinks of protest. When he's done, he jumps up onto the bed and nudges Mabel with his nose.

"Let's go" he says, and she picks him up and places him on the floor so he doesn't have to jump down and hurt himself. They run down the stairs, and out the door. Going with instincts, they headed out towards the forest, and sprinted faster and faster as they headed deeper and deeper into the woods. They halted when they heard laughter, followed by a thumping sound. "Bill!" Dipper called, and heard skidding, followed by footsteps approaching. Dipper was horrified. There were two deep cuts slashing across both of his faces, and there was still blood slowly dripping from the one on his left cheek. Tons of fork marks are shown on his arm, and there's a twig jabbed into the back of his shoulder. Both knees are strained, and his right eye is bruised and forced shut. "Mabel!" he says in a really excited sounding voice, and he runs up to her and hugs her. "I've been looking for a way out everywhere! Can you guide me back to the Shack?" he asks, and Mabel pushes him away. "Nice try, Bipper, but there's no way I'm leading you back anywhere. You could wander around for weeks and I wouldn't care to look for you!" she yells, and Dipper backs up uncomfortably. "Mabel, don't!" he whispers, but obviously not quietly enough. Bipper walks forward and kneels down. "No way, Pine Tree?" he asks, and Dipper backs up a bit out of discomfort. Bipper cackles. "A pig? I expected more from you. Why did you follow me, anyways? You know that journal's gone for good, so there's no point in fighting me for it." Mabel steps forward. "That may be, but you're still in my brother's body. Give it back you evil triangle!" She yells, tackling her brother's body to the ground. "Mabel, be careful!" he whispered, watching Mabel wrestle around with Bill on the forest floor. "Remember shooting star, I have no weaknesses!" He says, grabbing onto her shoulders and tackling her so he's on top of her. "True, but you're in my brother's body, and I know all of his weaknesses!" she says, and he smirks. "Oh yeah? Like what? I've already weakened this body beyond repair. What can you do that I haven't already done? He asks, and she smiles. "You may have weakened his body physically, but not emotionally!" she says, and Dipper backs up slowly so he's out of earshot. "Wendy will never love you back. You're weak, You're pathetic, and without that journal, you're nothing! You throw like a girl, you fight like a girl, and anything in between." Bill backs up slowly, holding a hand to his chest. "Wha- What are you doing?" he asks, clearly not liking what she's saying, and she steps closer to him. "I'd rather spend a month locked in a room with Gideon than spend an hour with you!" she yells, and Bill falls backwards momentarily before being thrown from Dipper's body. Dipper takes this opportunity to retrieve his body back, and he stands up, depending heavily on Mabel for support. The entire forest drained of color, and Bill appeared to them in his normal state. "I'm impressed, shooting star, twice in a row is far more impressive than the author could ever manage" he says. "Dark days are still ahead of you, and I'm warning you, I'll be watching you. I'll ALWAYS be watching" he warns ominously before disappearing again. Dipper fell over as soon as he was gone, and Mabel kneeled down next to him. "We did it! We got your body back!" she says, but he just weakly shakes his head. "He still destroyed the journal, Mabel. I'm nothing without it" he says, and before Mabel can make any "no you're not" comments, something sticks out of Dipper's pocket. He winces in pain, so Mabel has to reach into his vest to get it for him. "Dipper, look!" she says, and waves the journal in front him. "I told you he didn't destroy it!" she says, and he smiles. "I guess he didn't." She helps him up, and he leans on her. She picks up Waddles, and they head back to the shack. Dipper flips through the journal with his free hand, and pauses at the page about Bill. Splattered across the page lies a message. "I'm warning you, Pine Tree. Back off before you figure out something you KNOW you'll regret"


End file.
